My Dearest Wish
K. Padmakumar *
This is my dearest wish.
If this birth
Is not the end of life,
Let me be reborn a hundred times
As their child –
As the child of those
Who breast fed me
And who baptized me
At a tender age
And gave me a name
Like the buzz of bees among petals.
This is my dearest wish.
If I am blessed with a rebirth
As a man,
Let me find her and her only – beautiful or ugly
Even when identification is not possible.
I mean the one who sat before me
With complete abandon like a child
Out of love for me.
And she was doing it
In appreciation of my moment of weakness
And though she was born
As one of the easily bashful women.
This is my dearest wish.
In the last few moments
Before I die,
Let me be able to see those
With whom I tried to protect from the incessant rain
Under the shade of the banyan tree,
With whom I drew pictures on sheets of slate,
With whom I learned the alphabets
And with whom I played in the community halls
On the occasion of local festivals.
This is my dearest wish.
Let me be reborn
Among those with whom
I shared secrets of life,
With whom I learned the ropes
In the youthful days
Radiating energy all around,
With whom I shared
Sorrows and happiness,
And who I made friends with in love
And who I bade farewell in time also in love.
(Translated from K Padmakumar's Manipuri poem 'Eigi Aroiba Wahei' by his son K Radhakumar. )
* Poem written by K. Padmakumar ; Translated by K Radhakumar which was published at Hueiyen Lanpao
This poem was posted on July 27, 2015.
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